Allergy-friendly snacks?

[starshine514]

Background: So, my youngest just turned a year and has been diagnosed with multiple food allergies (milk, egg, and peanut). We haven't tried her one peanut (just a reaction on both the skin test and blood test), but she has anaphylactic reactions to milk and egg. She is still nursing and I have to avoid her allergens, too because of that (severe spitting up and congestion ensue when I consume her allergens).

Question: what allergen-friendly (no egg, peanut or milk ingredients) do you take to/buy at the park? Last trip - we ate a lot of fruit, and we still will this trip, I'm sure. I do have baby snacks mostly down (Cheerios, puffs, crackers, etc.). But, as an adult, those aren't necessarily my first choices (especially when I'm in a land of Mickey-shaped beignets and jalapeño-cheese filled pretzels). So, ideas would be appreciated for snacks or even take-along meal replacements. Thanks!

 

[SMD]

Not really an answer, but if at all possible bring your own fruit. What they charge for it in the parks is insane. Lay's potato chips, popcorn from the carts, Mickey pretzels, Dole whips, frozen strawberry bars, frozen lemonade cups, boysenapple freeze and frozen apple juice are all vegan. With the usually caveat to double check since they change vendors. They also have some pre-packaged baked goods you can ask for at Jolly Holiday.

 

[rms123]

I would call the allergy line and talk to them. Hard to know what is in all those snacks. Bengal bbq skewers could be a good snack though.

 

[starshine514]

I have talked to Disney. Basically, they say to ask at every food service location, and eat at a sit-down place whenever possible. We did ask last trip...I ate a lot of fruit plates. I just saw that they are rolling out allergy menus at some of the restaurants!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...enus-at-disneyland-walt-disney-world-resorts/

I'm hoping that a lot of places have them when we go!

 

[Butterfly123]

Where are you staying? Close walking distance? When my son was younger he had food restrictions. We ended up bringing a lot of food with us, and also stopped at Von's. We would go back for a park break and eat in the room. We often stayed at Camelot as their suites had a small dining table. It seemed easier than trying to be so careful at every meal in the park. Plus we ate healthier! Between the room microwave and a small George Foreman Grill we brought (and I mean small...one sandwich size) we ate pretty well.

 

[corinne76]

My son and i have the same allergies, but add in gluten and almonds for me.

It's really limiting as far as snacks. If you have a car, you could visit target/walmart or sprouts for food.

I like fruit, jerky, deli meat and lettuce rolled up, trail mix made with chex cereal, dried fruit and seeds, cashews, coconut butter.

This will be our first trip confirming my allergies so I'm not sure what to in park yet. Ds doesnt have severe allergies except for peanut, so i suspect I'll be asking at each stop about peanuts and cross contamination. And carry and epipen everywhere

 

[starshine514]

My son and i have the same allergies, but add in gluten and almonds for me.

It's really limiting as far as snacks. If you have a car, you could visit target/walmart or sprouts for food.

I like fruit, jerky, deli meat and lettuce rolled up, trail mix made with chex cereal, dried fruit and seeds, cashews, coconut butter.

This will be our first trip confirming my allergies so I'm not sure what to in park yet. Ds doesnt have severe allergies except for peanut, so i suspect I'll be asking at each stop about peanuts and cross contamination. And carry and epipen everywhere

We're staying close and will be driving. So, I'm definitely interested in some things I can carry with or have back in the room.

Jerky! That's an idea.

Nuts! I also haven't been doing tree nuts, but we just got her blood work results and all the tree nuts were negative. So, I can start exploring the world of nuts again. So, I think I'll do a trail mix for me.

Coconut butter? What is that like?

As far as non-peanut butters, does anyone have recommendations? I have tried almond years ago and didn't care for it. Is cashew butter more like peanut butter?

My girl has a epi-pen, too. It seems easier to carry in all her food rather than risk cross-contamination or just plain mistakes in a restaurant.

 

[corinne76]

Do you like coconut? The butter is thick and creamy. It's a little too much for me at times, but i found some packets that would be good for a quick take along snack

I havent tried cashew butter yet but i will. I used to eat a ton of almond butter but discovered my allergy. I've tried sunbutter, made from sunflower seeds, but i didn't care for it.

 

[javeyloveschelsi]

There is a great facebook group that I found because of disboards that is called "Disney Chefs Rock Food Allergies". It has been GREAT learning about disney and how to handle food allergies at the parks

 

[ebenmax]

We're staying close and will be driving. So, I'm definitely interested in some things I can carry with or have back in the room.

Jerky! That's an idea.

Nuts! I also haven't been doing tree nuts, but we just got her blood work results and all the tree nuts were negative. So, I can start exploring the world of nuts again. So, I think I'll do a trail mix for me.

Coconut butter? What is that like?

As far as non-peanut butters, does anyone have recommendations? I have tried almond years ago and didn't care for it. Is cashew butter more like peanut butter?

My girl has a epi-pen, too. It seems easier to carry in all her food rather than risk cross-contamination or just plain mistakes in a restaurant.

With nut butters I've found that I had to develop a taste for them because I naturally expected them to taste like peanut butter and they don't!
If you have access to a Whole Foods, they sell individual packets of lots of different nut butters. You could test them all and see if you prefer certain ones. That way you don't have to invest in a whole jar.
I've grown to like almond butter (I like Once Again crunchy) and cashew butter, but it did take a little time and desperation. Almond butter tastes good on a Granny Smith apple.
I will cut up a cucumber and some guacamole for a snack in the park, too. But sadly, I always take my own.

 

[ebenmax]

We're staying close and will be driving. So, I'm definitely interested in some things I can carry with or have back in the room.

Jerky! That's an idea.

Nuts! I also haven't been doing tree nuts, but we just got her blood work results and all the tree nuts were negative. So, I can start exploring the world of nuts again. So, I think I'll do a trail mix for me.

Coconut butter? What is that like?

As far as non-peanut butters, does anyone have recommendations? I have tried almond years ago and didn't care for it. Is cashew butter more like peanut butter?

My girl has a epi-pen, too. It seems easier to carry in all her food rather than risk cross-contamination or just plain mistakes in a restaurant.

I've also learned on the boards that nearby Tustin has a great Whole Foods.

 

[liloca]

My son was diagnosed with milk allergy at 2 months old (I nursed him) and eggs and peanut at 10 months old when he has his first skin test.
We have booked our vacation for beginning of September with DP.
I love enjoy a life brand since they are totally safe for my son ( he is now almost 19months) we get their cookies, granola bars, snacks and earth balance snacks too.
We only use Sunbutter at home and we don't mind at all.
Since you will have a car you can bring a small cooler with you and pack veggies with hummus. You can make your own dip with toffuti sour cream or cream cheese. And bring the basic snacks like pretzels, trail mix, popcorn ( my son LOVES popcorn), rice crackers, veggie sticks, chips and salsa.
Not sure if it is your taste or not but these are the snacks that I am planing in bringing for my son when we go.
I read somewhere that n Animal Kingdom they have an "Allergy free" kiosk that sells snacks,but I am sure you will have to pay a lot for them.

 

[liloca]

By the way since your baby has peanut allergy I would be carefull because of the cross-contamination. Most places that processes tree nuts also processes peanuts.

 

[gortman65]

Thanks for the Facebook allergy info - very cool!


To answer a previous question, we eat sun butter at home since our DD9 has a severe peanut allergy. Sunflower seeds made into butter sounded strange at first but I love it now and so does the rest of the family. Might be worth a try.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Do you know if the egg allergy is all products with eggs? I ask because my son has a moderate egg allergy and he can eat baked goods because the components that trigger the allergy are either broken down at high temperatures or are so minimal when "watered down" with other ingredients. From what I understand, the same tends to hold true for milk allergies in baked goods, but of course there are always exceptions. That would open up a lot more options though. My son has peanut allergies and egg allergies. It's a pain in the butt.

We've had the best luck with the popcorn, the fruit, potato chips, and the skewers from Bengal BBQ. If you can add baked goods and be safe, the churros seem to be fine peanut-wise at least. We bring snacks with us a lot though. You can take anything in with you that you can eat at home if you have someone with allergies in your group. For a meal, we have the best luck at the Mexican restaurants because they can usually leave something you're concerned about off the plate.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Don't forget Jamba Juice in DtD. We've always had great experiences there with friendly staff customizing our smoothies. Instead of dairy, I ask for a whole banana to be mixed in. (Sometimes there is a fee for this, sometimes not -- probably depends on the employee.)

 

[starshine514]

Do you know if the egg allergy is all products with eggs? I ask because my son has a moderate egg allergy and he can eat baked goods because the components that trigger the allergy are either broken down at high temperatures or are so minimal when "watered down" with other ingredients. From what I understand, the same tends to hold true for milk allergies in baked goods, but of course there are always exceptions. That would open up a lot more options though. My son has peanut allergies and egg allergies. It's a pain in the butt.

When the allergist told me about my daughter's blood work results, she said that her numbers were high enough that she didn't recommend that my daughter consume milk or egg, even in baked goods. Peanut is her weakest allergen by the tests, but we haven't tested her on peanuts.

She just recently got semi-cleared for soy (had a skin test that we're hoping was a false positive and a negative blood test). I've been given the clear to try her on it by her allergist, but we had been avoiding it for two months prior. In my experience, soy is the most difficult one to avoid while dining out. So many places don't differentiate between soybean oil, soy lecithin and other soy products. Most soy allergic people can tolerate the oil and lecithin, but many allergen menus don't differentiate, and then 90% of items say they contain soy. I drank soy milk this afternoon. If she doesn't get sick from my milk, then I may let her try some on Monday.

 

[starshine514]

Don't forget Jamba Juice in DtD. We've always had great experiences there with friendly staff customizing our smoothies. Instead of dairy, I ask for a whole banana to be mixed in. (Sometimes there is a fee for this, sometimes not -- probably depends on the employee.)

I hadn't thought of that! Is there any worry about cross-contamination in the blenders (because I can totally see giving her some smoothie if it is safe)? I'm surprised they charge extra for substituting a banana for frozen yogurt. I would think a banana would be a cheaper ingredient.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

We had a positive test for soy, too, so I know how difficult that one can be. Hopefully your case will be like ours and turn out to be a false positive.

 

[Starwind]

I am anaphylactic to milk, tree nuts, peanuts, and seafood.

IF a person can handle soy:

MY favourite non-peanut butter is "Wowbutter": http://wowbutter.com/ . "Safe-for-School WOWBUTTER is peanut free, tree nut free, gluten free and dairy free. This product is produced in a dedicated facility that manufactures only soy products." It is also certified non-GMO. Here is their allergy info page: http://wowbutter.com/allergy-info.php

My sister, who can have peanut butter, did a side by side taste test of Wowbutter and Kraft creamy PB; she said they were nearly identical in taste. Wowbutter looks and pretty much smells like PB. I cried the first time I ate it because of how close it tasted

-SW